Food product and method of manufacturing the same



R. s. FLEMING. FOOD PRODUCT AND METHOD CF MANUFACTURING THE SAME,

APPLICATION FILED OCT-2,1919.

1,361,239. I Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

B I Z I V TdRNEY R. S. FLEMING. FOOD PRODUCT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME.

APPLICATION men 0CT.2.1919.

1,361,239. SH T- F g ,a.

1 I 4 F r 7 l4 l5 I Z ZZf/ v Tm Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

R. S. FLEMING. FOOD PRODUCT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME. APPLICATION FILED OCT-2,1919.

1,361,239. Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PA-TENT" OFFICE.

- FLEMING, or sxancusn NEW Yoax, assrenoa TO- MERRELL-SOULE comrm, or SYRACUSE, NEW max, A coaroaarron or NEW YORK.

FOOD PRODUCT AN D METHOD OEMANUFACTURING. THE SAME.

To allwkom it'mwy concern:

Be it known that I, RAPHAEL S. FLEMING, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in

' the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Food Products and Methods of Manufacturingthe same,

of which the following, taken in connection withsthe' accompanying drawings, is a full,

I clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the production of certainnew food products and to the process-for producing the same and is a division of my application, 'Serial No. 247,374, filed July 30, 1918.

I have discovered that it is. possible to make certain new and useful food products, particularly fruit products, including prodnets ,of the citrus fruits, such aslemons, oranges, etc., -as well as products of pineapples, logan berries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, etc., and I have produced such new and novel products.

I have discovered a process-whereby said new and novel products may be produced and havedemonstrated that'thi's process is commercially practical, efficient and economical.

My invention will be unders'tood'.from a description of its application to one fruit,

as lemons, the same being used as a specific, illustration of vits adaptability to other fruits, such as those heretofore named.

Large quantities of fruit, such as lemons,

are wasted each year because the expense of marketing the same, often including large freight or express charges, is greater than the price for which they can be sold. Various causeslead to this result, suchas scarcity and expense of labor, over-production, etc.

Further, there are large quantities of small or defective or injured, as for instance bruised, fruit that are not salable, or perhaps if salable cannot beprofitablyman keted, and my invention provides anf outlet for such fruit by rendering valuable portions of the same substantially physically permanent and by reducing the bulk at the place of production to such an extent that the resultant product can be economically and profitably marketed.

v Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7 1920.

i I have found by experiment that lemon juice cannot be reduced to powder by atomnature quite different from a dry powdered product. I have further found by experiment that a mixture of lemon juice and cane sugar Serial No. 247,374. Divided and this: application filed October 2, 1919. Serial-No. 327,927.

cannot be reduced to a powdered product by said process, the result being substantially the same as when pure lemon juice was treated. i 1 r I have, however, discovered "that a mixture of lemon juice. anda suitable drying promoter consisting of, comprising or 1ncluding a product obtained by the hydrolysis ,of starch, such as glucose or corn syrup, can be reduced to a substantially dry powder-by atomizing a mixture of the said substances into a current of moisture-ab-. sorblng an as set forth above, whereby a soluble powder comprised of spherical particles is produced, and this is the more surpr1s1ng because commercial lucose does not exist in crystalline form and no process has heretofore been known for reducing the same to such form.

I believe that I am the first to produce glucose in powdered form and by the spray- I to two suitable methods.

First, thedilute acid method, and Second, the diastas'e method.

First, when starch and water are heated with a dilute acid, the starch molecule is gradually and progressively split up into other carbo-hydrates,'the main products in substantially the order produced being dex- The product a trin, maltose and dextrose. comprismgdextrin, maltose and dextrose 1s commonly known as glucose or corn syrup.

desired manner and I will specifically refer Second, as illustrative, sprouted barley containsja'n active principle called a diasaswhat will act on starch and convert it into dextrin, maltose and dextrose. Probably. such products are progressively produced in mannerquite similar to their production by the acid treatment.

The hydrolysis ,of starch, therefore, either as stated by heating the same in combination with a dilute acid or by the action of a diastase will result in the production (of dextrin, maltose and dextrose in various proportions depending upon the extent to which conversion has taken place. If the dilute acid method be adopted and the proc- 7 blue color with iodin, we have su stanglucose embodies a large percentage of dex-- tially pure dextrin. By continuing the boiling process, dextrin yields maltose and the further carrying of the process splits the maltose molecule into two parts of dextrose'. These are products of hydrolyzed starch.

Dextrin alone combined with fruit juice, as lemon juice, dries easily and well and is doubtlessthe most valuable individual drying agent, but the resultant powder is somewhat unsatisfactory from a mechanical solubility standpoint and perhaps from the further fact that commercial dextrin, due doubtless to impurities or tothe particular method of production, is somewhat bitter.

y experiments and tests lead me to be lieve that by far the best drying promoter is the product ofhydrolized starch known as glucose, particularly when the process of hydrolysis is stopped at the point where the trin and a small percenta e of dextrose.

The Journal of Dairy cz'ence of January 1919 gives the'following composition of corn syrup or glucose: l

- Dextrin 29.8 to 4'5. 3 Maltose 4.6 19.3 Dextrose 34.3 36.5

""Ash 0.32 0.52

Water 14. 20 17.2

I have utilized with great success a glucose believed by me to contain considerably. less than 22% ofdextrose and approaching 50% of dextrin. The lemon or other juice may be obtained in any, suitable way as by compressing or squeezing the lemon and the ju1ce is then thoroughly mixed with a proper quantity of glucosepr the derivatives or constituents of glucose, as used by me in actual practice corn syrup of high dextrin content.

. v 5 The mixture may be sprayed or atomized as by forcing the sameunder high pressure I through a mlnute orifice, and in this form is introduced into a current of heated or moisture absorbing air.

The liquid content is substantially, completely and instantaneously vaporized and the product collects in the form of a fine" practically dry powder.

I have found that a mixture of 100 pounds of lemon juice and 50 pounds of corn syrup produces a very desirable produce. With orange juice a lower percentage of corn syrup is desirable and I have found that a mixture of 100 pounds of orange juice and 20 pounds of cornsyrup produces an excellent powdered'product that may be reconstituted by themere addition of water. And in drying various juices particular percentages of materials will be found peculiarly advantageous.

In the accompanying drawings I have disclosed an apparatus peculiarly adapted for carrying out the desiccating step involved in the process herein.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of such appa- 'ratus.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the air introducingdevice.

Fig. 3 is a section of the air introducing device taken at ri ht angles to'rig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a si e elevation of a suitable spray nozzle.

F ig. 5-is an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the same.

The general formof the desiccating chamber and collector'disclosed in Fig. 1 issubstantially the same as the structure disclosed in Letters Patent, No. 1,088,436, issued Feb. 24, 1914 to Merrell-Soule.C0., as the assignor of I. S. Merrell, while the air introducing devices are' substantially thesame as those disclosed-in Letters Patent, No. 1,102,601 issued to Merrell-Soule Co. as the assignor of Irving S. Merrell and Oliver Edward Merrell, and-the spray nozzle shown is substantially the same as that disclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,183,393 issued to Merrell-Soule Co. as

the assignor of Irving S. Merrell and Oliver Edward Merrell.

The desiccating devices comprise a desiccating chamber -1- of any suitable form and shape having .a suitable screened outlet or dust collector 2, the construction of nels -7-.

neously and practically completely vapor i'zed, is conveyed from the desiccating chamber preferably through suitable screening devices while the practically dry powder gravitates .to the floor of the chamber or is collected and separated'from the air by the.

screening devices.

The air introducing devices shown'comprise a wind trunk 5 through which heated air is forced by an suitable air blower or pump (not shown Thistrunk communicates with an air whirling chamber 6'.- disposed intermediate the and the desiccating chamber. This chamber 6 is preferably substantially circular in cross section and receives heated air under pressure from the trunk -5- througha plurality of tangential inletchan- These channels are 'shown' as four in number, equally spaced around the whirling chamber and of substantially equal conveying capacity. Each channel may extend the length of the cylindrical part -8-- of the chamber -.6. The air forced from the 'trunk.-5'-- through these tangential channels is set into rapid whirling motion by the cylindrical walls -8 and -9 of saidfchamben The .axis of the chamber 6% is preferably horizontal and at substantially right angles to one of the walls '-10 of the desiccating chamber 1-. This air whirling chamber mayube formed by a pair of substantially concentric walls and 9'- connected at their rear by atransverse annular wall -11- each of' said concentric walls having its forward end tapered forwardly to form an annular constric'ting outlet communicating with the dosiccating chamber and preferablythe taper of the wall -8-'-is somewhat greater than the taper ofthe wall. 9 to further re-.

strict the'outlet and increase the pressure under which the air passes into the desiccating chamber. Thewall -9 may terminate a "short distance at the rear of the termin-ation of'the wall and, as the wall -9- is open at its rear, it constitute-s a substantially cylindrical chamber through which the pipe -3 passes to spray nozzle and preferably the forward end of the spray nozzle is just-in front ofthe termination of-the wall -8-.' This cylindrical chamber formed. within the wall 9- communicates at its rear with the trunk.

5 and acts to. convey a direct current of air surrounding and enveloping the spray as it is propelled from the spraying device all surrounded and enveloped by the whirling current of air issuin from chamber '6. This construction is peculiarly efficient both in effecting instantaneous and substantially complete vaporization of ,the liquid constituents of the solution and in effecting an economy in space due,'perhaps, to the rotary movement of the air and spray.

wind trunk The spra" ing device as shown in Fig. 6 com prises a ody.''12-,' a cap -13--, a casing 14--.secured to the cap'by threaded engagement in such a manner as to confine the body '12 between the cap -13 and the casing -14. Further the nozzle com- I prises a spray disk -l5, a plug -16 21 at the middle of its outer side to whichthe liquid is conveyed by two ducts -22- which communicate at their outer ends with the chamber -23- of the'casi'ng. The spray disk has a minute central orifice 25-- communicatingwith the whirling chamber -21 and leadin to the evase. ajutage 26- formed in t e cap --13 The casing 14'- is interiorly threaded at -27'- to receive 'the liquid conveying pipe .3 through which the liquid is forced I under high pressure (as 2000 to 3000'poundsto the square inch) by any-suitable means as a pump (not shown).

The operation of this particular desiccating apparatus is substantially as follows.

The air is introducedunder pressure through the trunk5'-and forced into the desiccating chamber through the concentric chambersofthe air introducing device in the man-' ner heretofore described. The liquid is introduced into this current of heated air in atomized'condition andis carried spirally forward by the heated air and the liquid constituents are substantially completely vaporized. A portion of the powder gravitates to the'bottomof the desiccating chamber and the remaining portionscarried bythe air escape into the dust collecting or screening 'devlce 2 whereby the air and vapor are separated from the powder car-' ried thereby, the air and vapor escaping while the powder is retained within the. collecting device and in the use of this particular apparatus the powder is later deposited within the desiccating chamber and com-.

mingled with the powder primarily collect- I ing therein. I

n referring to the product of thespray. process-described herein as comprising or consisting of spherical particles, I mean to include particles constituting complete spheres or fragments thereof.

The expressions I a a product'of hydrolyzed 1 v v starch. and "a product obtained by the hydrolysis of starch are deemed to include not only the immediate product such as lucose of varying contents ofdextri-n, extrose and maltose, but also' the derivatives or components of such product.

It will be understood that I have described a particular method of desiccation F of the solution ofiruit juice and drying proing promoter comprising a product of they moter as illustrative of a, perhaps, preferred method of carrying out this step of the process in the production of a substantially dry powder comprising spherical particles and that various modifications and changes may be made in the process or that other processes of desiccation may in certain cases be substituted in reducing fruit juices to powder by the use of a drying promoter comprising a product of the hydrolysis of starch or a derivative or component of such product all without departing from my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A product in powdered form comprising fruit material combined with a drying promoter comprising a product obtained by the h drolysis of starch.

2. is a new article of manufacture a substantially dry substance comprising the solids of fruit juice combined with a dryhydrolysis of starch. v

3. As a new article of manufacture a substantially dry substance comprising the solids ofthe juice of a citrus fruit combined with a drying promoter comprising a prodnot obtained by the hydrolysis of starch.

i. As a new article. of manufacture a substantially dry substance comprising the solids of the juice of a citrus fruit combined with glucose.

5; The solution in water of a substance comprising the solid of fruit juice combined productfi vfruit material and; glucose homogeneously combined.

8. A product in'powderedform consisting of spherical particlesand comprising citrus fruit material and glucose homogeneously combined.' v v 9. A product in powdered form consist ing of spherical particles and comprising fruit material combined with a drying promoter including a product obtained by the hydrol sis of starch.

10. product in powdered form consisting of spherical particles and comprising the solids of fruit juice combined with a drying promoter including a product of hydrol zed starch.

11. product'in powdered form comprising fruit material'combined with a drying promoter comprising a 'product of hydro-' ly'zed starch. I

In witness. whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th da of September, 1919. RAPHA L S. FLEMING.

'Witnesses:

i H.. E. CHASE,-

MARGARET L. STOUP. 

